Ultimo Coffee , Philadelphia: Many will argue that this city is hands-down the winner in the Northeast for the best cup of coffee because the cup o' joe is served without snobbery. Flickr/ infusedbee

Gimme! Coffee, New York: Gimme has transformed into the godfather of craft coffee, paving the way for today's flashier coffee chains like Blue Bottle. Thanks to carefully sourced, "farm to cup" beans, artisanal roasting, and its homegrown roots, Gimme is quite often the standard that coffee shops and up-and-coming chains hope to achieve. Not to mention a crop of baristas that are hard to find in today's day and age. Gimme! Coffee

Barista, Portland, Ore.: What Barista does particularly well is showcase the best roasters of the Northwest in a "multi-roaster" model with a rotating list of roasts that range from hyper-local roasters (like Seattle's Kuma) to Stumptown. Flickr/ David Robert Wright

Courier Coffee Roasters, Portland, Ore.: Known for its hand-roasted, small-batch coffees, Courier Coffee originally started as a bike-delivery roasting company. You can still get your coffee delivered by bike, but the brick-and-mortar shop is at heart a local coffee shop — with a vinyl collection, hip-hop turntable, freshly baked muesli and baked goods, pour-over coffee dripped into Mason jars, and not much else. Flickr/ Intrepidation

Café Grumpy, New York City: What sets Café Grumpy apart in a sea of coffee shops in the Big Apple is its own roasted coffee. Co-founder Caroline Bell says that they started roasting their beans in 2009 in order to take coffee into their own hands and now, the company produces seven different roasts from Brazil, Nicaragua, Colombia, and others. It's what turns a long list of coffee drinks into something beyond an ordinary cup of joe. Brad Chaffin

Lamill Coffee Boutique, Los Angeles: Compared to the other coffee shops on the list, Lamill isn't going to have the comfy, cozy vibe you'd expect to find in a coffee shop. But there's a reason why it's called a "boutique" and not house or shop — Lamill translates the coffeehouse cup of joe into a chic, modern take. Consider Lamill the white-tablecloth restaurant of coffee shops, says owner Craig Min. Flickr/ CurryPuffy

Stumptown, various locations: Our panelists ranked Stumptown higher than the majority of coffee shops and above the six nominated coffee chains for its quality of coffee, atmosphere, and customer service. No doubt that Stumptown was the game-changer in the field of coffee; what Starbucks is to Seattle, Stumptown is to Portland. Stumptown

Ritual Coffee Roasters,San Francisco: This place's nearly perfect scores for its coffee and single-origin espresso, sourced from Central America, South America, and Africa and brewed in Japanese V60 cone brewers, set it apart from the other top-notch coffee places in San Francisco. Tod Seelie, courtesy Ritual Coffee Roasters

Joe the Art of Coffee, New York and Philadelphia: Joe is known for exceptional lattes, cappuccinos, and espresso — they serve undoubtedly some of the best you'll find in New York City. Our panelists raved about Joe's quality coffee, atmosphere, and unparalleled customer service. Joe the Art of Coffee

Intelligentsia, various locations: Intelligentsia may be one of the fastest growing coffee chains in the nation; the chain is now expanding into San Francisco and New York City, on top of its locations in Los Angeles and Chicago, its home base. Intelligentsia ranked consistently high among our panelists for the quality of coffee, atmosphere, and customer service. Flickr/ Scott Beale

Commonplace Coffee Co. House and Roasters, Pittsburgh: Commonplace Coffee Roasters is about as homegrown as you can get: the couple behind Pittsburgh's burgeoning coffee scene, Julie and TJ Fairchild, began with the original coffeehouse and roastery in 2003 in Indiana, Penn. Since then, the coffee company has grown to include four shops and two roasteries in Indiana, Penn., and Pittsburgh. Commonplace Coffee Co. House and Roasters

Milstead & Co., Seattle: Owner Andrew Milstead has been praised for taking the most difficult approach to the coffee-shop model — the multiroaster model — and excelling at it. Milstead's dedication to the coffees he serves earns his shop a higher ranking on this list. With more than 30 different coffees on the menu to sample at a time, you'll never get a better education about coffee than at Milstead & Co. Stop by for a single-origin espresso or an Aeropress or Clever drip coffee Dan Cole

Everyman Espresso, New York City: We can appreciate a coffee shop that doesn't just cater to the new wave of coffee nerds, but hopes to share its love of coffee for, well, the everyman. One aspect contributing to the unintimidating atmosphere? The absence of a real menu -- just a printed blurb about the coffee and locally sourced milk. Flickr/ jkwoo

Peregrine Espresso, Washington, D.C.: Peregrine beat out coffee shops from the Eastern U.S. (and Canada) in a recent competition, where a team of three baristas had to take over a coffee shop for 30 minutes during a trade show while judges lurked behind the counter. The reason the Peregrine team believed they won the competition was the same reason our panelists ranked Peregrine so highly: its atmosphere and customer service. Flickr/ Mr. T in D.C.

Artifact Coffee, Baltimore: The coffee shop with delicious food offerings (from the owners of Baltimore favorite Woodbury Kitchen) has taken the city by storm. The "barn-chic," farm-to-table vibe helped Artifact claim its spot on our list, but so did the coffee. With roasts from Counter Culture Coffee, it's hard to find a better cup of coffee in Baltimore. Flickr/ fooferkitten